The Lions' Pride

Coach in good mood this evening. Seemed confident about the way his team practiced this week. A few items of note:

-- Does he watch films of NFL and other college games in offseason to get new ideas? "Absolutely," O'Brien said.

-- O'Brien will not be taking part in "No Shave November" (he wasn't familiar with the term). Said he only has to shave twice a week.

-- Asked again about end of the year game in a warm climate. "There's a lot of possibilities. … My bosses are working on that." They're also looking overseas. Sounds like it would be 2014 or 2015 at the earliest.

-- O'Brien said team practiced outside for the first time this week today. "Knock on wood, we had a heck of a practice."

-- O'Brien says nothing has "surprised" him about head coaching job, but he's been impressed with quality of education, student body, the players, etc.

-- Asked about Purdue quarterback Robert Marve, O'Brien said he and Roof recruited him while at Duke. "That's how long Robert's been around. … He's got an excellent arm. Can throw a 17-yard comeback across the field. … Big challenge for us on Saturday."

-- O'Brien said the biggest challenge facing his offense this week is the number of fronts Purdue's defense plays. Boilers are second in the Big Ten in kickoff return yardage, which is also a concern.

-- Email question about Gary Wooten and Eric Shrive. Wooten is currently on the scout team but O'Brien sees a bigger role for him on the team in the future. "Eric Shrive is one of my favorite guys on the team. Great sense of humor, great work ethic. I think he's really improved and we've got another year with him."

-- O'Brien, asked why team has been well-conditioned in fourth quarter, said coaches tried to keep conditioning fun during summer, and it carried into camp.

-- O'Brien asked his opinion on a college football playoff. "In the NFL, that's what it's all about -- getting into the tournament. I believe in proving your championship mettle on the field. I don't think a computer should make the decision and people that have never coached football should make a decision. … I think someday it's going to be a final four and hopefully becomes a final eight."

-- Asked by a fan to give injury updates, O'Brien was polite but said: "You'll see who's playing when we play the game on Saturday."

-- Asked about fake punt vs. Ohio State: "We're always going to take chances. … Going to do the best we can not to play 60 minutes close to the vest. I think what's important for fans to understand is sometimes those things don't work."

-- O'Brien said he watches the game twice on Sundays. Has helped him to get to know team. Sunday night he'll start looking at the next team. On Monday, still working on Penn State, by Tuesday it's all about the opponent.

-- O'Brien said trend in college football now is high-scoring offenses. But when you look at top 5 teams in country, they have great defenses as well. "People have to realize we're not going to be there (top 5) for a while, because of the situation we're in. But when it comes back to get to the top of the mountain, I believe fundamentally in good quarterback play. And then I believe that we have to play great defense because we've always played great defense here."

-- O'Brien said he and Stan Hixon got on wideouts earlier in year because they didn't think they were blocking well enough. Likes the way they've blocked since.